India leads in global AI skill penetration: Nasscom

India currently ranks first in terms of AI skill penetration and AI talent concentration and fifth in AI scientific publications, according to a report published on Friday by IT industry body Nasscom. 

The report published in partnership with IT company Salesforce shows that India's 'AI Skills Penetration Factor' has been reported to be 3.09, the highest among all G20 and Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries. This indicates that India’s tech talent is three times more likely to possess or report having AI skills than talent in other nations. 

The report also predicted that India will experience significant growth in the need for professionals skilled in data science and AI, with a projection of over 1 million such professionals by 2024. 

Debjani Ghosh, the President of Nasscom, stated that the disruption caused by AI in India’s primary sectors has the potential to contribute $500 billion to the country’s economy in gross value added (GVA) terms by 2026. However, this cannot be accomplished single-handedly and would require a focused effort from the government, industry, and academia to enhance AI skills and implement initiatives on a large scale. 

The government’s plan to establish three Centres of Excellence aimed at developing AI for India and using it for the benefit of the country is a positive move towards building the essential skills in AI and design thinking necessary for achieving practical outcomes, she added. 

According to the report, over 1,900 startups in India with a focus on AI are currently offering innovative solutions, with a particular emphasis on conversational AI, natural language processing (NLP), video analytics, disease detection, fraud prevention, and deep fake detection. 

According to Deepak Pargaonkar, vice president of solution engineering at Salesforce, individuals possessing the necessary domain expertise and business context can develop predictive models, plan simulations and scenarios, and cluster data. These skills are in great demand and have enormous potential to enhance business efficiency. Additionally, they can also help build trust among customers and employees. 

As of August 2022, the total requirement for data science and AI talent in India was 629,000, while the existing talent base was 416,000. This implies a demand-supply gap of 51%, which is considerably lower than that of major economies like the United States, said Nasscom. 

At present, the five most prominent job positions in the field of AI, which include ML engineer, data engineer, data scientist, data architect, and DevOps engineer, account for 73% of all AI job openings in India. The report stated that these job roles are critical for ensuring the development, implementation, and maintenance of various AI systems and technologies in organizations. Therefore, possessing skills and experience in any of these positions is likely to provide a significant advantage for individuals seeking employment in the AI industry in India. 

Also, out of all the installed talent in the AI industry in India, the two most in-demand roles are ML engineer and data engineer, which make up 46% of the total talent pool, the report said. According to the report, India has emerged as the primary global destination for digital talent, with a digital talent pool of over 1.6 million as of FY2022. 

According to a June 2022 report by Microsoft, consultancy firm Bain & Co, and industry body Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI), India is one of the leading suppliers of talent in data and AI skills and produces 16% of the world’s AI talent pool – the third highest in the world.

The report further noted that demand from micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) for AI contractors, coupled with demand for AI and machine learning (ML) talent for digital transformation in large organisations, has significantly spiked demand for AI talent in India.